1. In what respects is "Frauds on the Fairies" quite different from the
kind of treatment fairy-tales had received from Dr. Bowdler and George
Cruikshank?

2. One does not need to have read much of Dickens's work or know much
about the mid-Victorian period to surmise Dickens's attitudes to a number of
items he satirizes in this essay. With reference to the text, explain
briefly his feelings about each of the following:

a. bloomers [women's trousers or slacks].
b. American slavery.
c. long-winded political speeches.
d. the fouling of the streets by carriage horses.
e. industrial air pollution.
f. Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe (1719-20).
g. Prohibition of the sale of alcoholic beverages.
h. quack medicines touted as panaceas.
i. the etchings of George Cruikshank.
j. fairy-tales.
k. fashion columns in newspapers.
l. American democracy.
m. modern religious cults.
n. the emancipation of women, and in particular granting them the suffrage
(right to vote).

3. Dickens "tries on" a number of "voices" or "personas" during the
course of the essay. Point these out, and explain why he adopts these
different styles of oral and written communication.

4. Why has Dickens substituted "speeches" for the Prince's ball?

5. Why has Dickens introduced such modern elements as newspaper
advertisements in this traditional story, which ultimately is derived from
Charles Perrault's Histoires ou Contes du temps passé (1697)?

6. Based on the opening and closing of the piece, briefly give Dickens's
thesis for "Frauds on the Fairies."